Sunshine Salad Dressing
This creamy honey-mustard salad dressing recipe is lightened up with Greek yogurt. No mayo here! This homemade dressing is easy to make, too. I love it so much that I nicknamed it "sunshine salad dressing."
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on October 1, 2024
Let’s rewind to my trip to Costa Rica last month with my grandmother. It was the last day on our group trip, and we arrived at Sibu for our final dinner together. Sibu produces the best chocolate I’ve ever tasted, and they greeted us with rum-spiked, spiced hot chocolate.
I was literally a kid in a candy store all night as they presented a lesson in chocolate history (with wine and chocolate) and moved on to an incredible dinner.
After appetizers, they handed us chopped salads that looked fairly basic at first glance—I remember lettuce, tomato, avocado, feta and dressing. Then I took a bite and forgot about chocolate for a minute. That dressing!
I immediately tracked down the owner of the place to ask about it. He said it was a “honey-Dijon vinaigrette with yogurt base” and I vowed to recreate it at home. Mind you, this dressing is quite different from a classic vinaigrette.
I started with the honey-mustard vinaigrette that I made for my cookbook, which I love as written. I reduced the oil and added plain Greek yogurt until it tasted like the dressing at Sibu.
This dressing is essentially a creamy honey-mustard dressing made with Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise. It offers a more luxurious texture than any other honey-mustard dressing I’ve tried. I’m usually skeptical of using yogurt in place of mayonnaise or sour cream (mayo and sour cream have their place), but this salad dressing wouldn’t be the same without it.
Healthy Honey-Mustard Dressing
The only problem with this dressing is that “honey-Dijon vinaigrette with yogurt base” doesn’t do it justice. “Healthy honey-mustard dressing” sounds bland, and “creamy honey-mustard dressing” doesn’t quite capture the tangy deliciousness of the yogurt.
I dubbed it “Sunshine Salad Dressing” since it brightens up my salads so well. I couldn’t keep it to myself any longer, so I’m sharing it today for all of your side salad needs. The recipe yields a lot (almost 1 1/2 cups). I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finishing it off. It makes a stellar dip for vegetables, too!
I’ve been keeping a big jar of it in my fridge for the past couple of weeks, and it goes with just about everything. Try this honey-mustard dressing with any of the following:
- Fresh greens of any kind
- Avocado
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Kale
- Carrots
- Apples
- Bell peppers
- Goat cheese, feta or cheddar cheese
- Sunflower seeds, pecans, or almonds
Don’t miss my sunshine slaw with quinoa or my roasted and raw carrot salad with avocado, which both call for this dressing. I have more salads over here.
Please let me know how you like this honey-mustard dressing in the comments! I hope you love it as much as I do.
Watch How to Make Sunshine Dressing
Sunshine Salad Dressing
This creamy honey-mustard salad dressing recipe is lightened up with Greek yogurt. No mayo here! It’s so easy to whisk this dressing together. Recipe yields almost 1 ½ cups and keeps well for 10 to 14 days.
Ingredients
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (any % fat will do)
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- 3 to 4 tablespoons honey, to taste
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or more lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 10 twists of freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a 2-cup liquid measuring cup or bowl, combine all of the ingredients as listed. Whisk until blended. Taste, and season with additional pepper if necessary.
- This dressing is intentionally bold, but if it tastes too tart for your liking, whisk in another tablespoon of honey.
- Store leftover salad dressing in the refrigerator, covered, for 10 to 14 days.
Notes
Make it dairy free: If you have a favorite unsweetened dairy-free plain yogurt, it should work well here.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Hi,
Can I use Veganaise in this recipe?
I would recommend a non-dairy yogurt instead.
I commend this sunshine salad dressing
Is healthy
very good ..thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome, Mia!
I added some of my cbd oil to this for a little extra healthy benefit . Came out delicious
Thank you, Shane for sharing and for your review.
Could probably use refined Virgin cold pressed coconut oil for those medium chain fatty acids too.
How much is a cup in millilitres?
1 star rating because I can’t make it until I know what a cup is.
Have googled it and got several different answers so I am still baffled.
Answers were 236.588ml 284ml 240ml 250ml
It sounds wonderful but can’t try it until I have this info.
I’m sorry! I’m not the metrics expert. You can estimate for this specific one and adjust as you needed to. Start at the low range, and go from there. :) Hope that helps!
30ml=1oz. 8oz=1cup. 30ml×8=240ml
BJ Thank you so much. I now look forward to making & enjoying this recipe.
Made this and loved it! Used lemon juice (no vinegar) and canola oil instead of olive oil (just not a fan of olive oil). This dressing packs a delightful punch and is my new favorite. Thank you for posting this recipe:)! And whoever posted below about putting this dressing on potatoes, that sounds like a brilliant suggestion.
Not sure why you’re providing a rating at all if you have not tried the recipe. Ask Kate a question if you have one but don’t rate her recipe as a one-star recipe if you haven’t actually made the recipe.
Well, I will consider myself well & truly told off! My comment regarding cups was quite legitimate & was kindly answered by Kate. Maybe you should get a life?
PS it is not possible to leave a comment without giving a rating & providing your name etc.
Yea right…. I caught that too.
You must be fun at parties ♀️
For anyone else who may read this later and want to know, a metric cup is 250ml.
So look forward to making this dressing recipe!
Thank you Gina.
Also, it does not matter exactly how much a cup is. As long as you use the equivalent of it in the rest measurements.
For example if you assume 1 cup is 250ml it’s only important that you multiply and divide by 250ml for all measurements. Whether its 246ml or 250ml doesn’t really matter.
Cups as a unit of measurement was used solely for getting the ratios right, everyone used their own normal cup but had to use the same cup for each recipe.
I used a naturel yoghurt and swapped half of the honey with a mango/ginger syrup. It tastes great!
This salad dressing is incredible. It’s so delicious I’m putting it on everything. Cold potatoes. Pasta. I’d bathe in it if I could make enough! :-D
Yes! I’m so happy to hear that. Haha, bathe in it? :)
Do you give the calorie values in your recipes? I don’t see them.
Yes! They are under the notes section of the recipe. You just need to click to expand.
Hey there,
Full-fat honey mustard is even more detrimental to your diet than fat-free, and not just because of the fat content. “The full-fat honey mustards have about 120 calories, 11 grams of fat (in two tablespoons) and contain high fructose corn syrup, which is usually higher in the ingredient list than honey,” says Sass.
It is a very amazing recipe for my health…
Maybe that’s why she used Dijon mustard which has zero fat. Fat in fat dairy and olive oil is not our enemy especially since low fat versions are chock full of sugar.
Hi Kate
Love this dressing! Have to admit that I was at first a bit hesitant about adding the garlic, thinking how already good it was without it (being a garlic lover, I tend to be quite heavy-handed sometimes!). However I followed your recipe to a tee and I’m glad I did. We’re coming into summer now Down Under so this dressing will make its debut come our first summer party! Smart ‘cookie’, you lol Thanks!
Thank you, Su! I appreciate it. Enjoy it all summer long. :)
I MADE THIS and it is amazing! I made it for a salad tonight, but it was so delish I couldn’t wait so I put it on some leftover quinoa and a chopped hard boiled egg. Yum! Cant wait to put it on everything. Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Made the Sunshine Salad dressing. It was amazing and delicious. My husband loved it.
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Adriana.
Your cookbook has become my favorite!
Hooray! Thanks for letting me know, Lillian. So glad you are enjoying it. I would love a review on Amazon, if you haven’t already!
Hi, Kate
I needed a honey mustard salad dressing for my spinach salad tonite. Your recipe was perfect – and it made a lot! I didn’t change a thing and it enhanced my salad (spinach stemmed on the plate and garnished with sliced mushrooms,Fuji apple slices, chopped bacon, walnut halves.) Thanks! Oh – FYI in your vegetarian meals you posted today (Oct 9 2018) – white miso was a listed ingredient. Whole Foods says they sell it. GREAT website!! So little time. ha. Lisa
You’re welcome! Thanks so much Lisa.
Finally made this tonight; so good! Thank you!!
Thanks for the report back! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Julie.
Delicious! Thank you!
Thank you, Ren!
Hi this dressing looks really good would it be possible to get amounts for one portion of dressing thanks Mary Wundle
The total contents are roughly 1.5 cups total. Hope this helps!
Love both this and your Carrot Ginger Dressing! Know idea what possessed me to do so, but I combined them both and love the result! I never measure and do it to taste, and there is more Sunshine Dressing than the other.
You combined both? Lots of flavor! Thanks for sharing, Holly.
Just made this yummy and nutritious salad. However I never can follow a recipe exactly, I used raw pumpkin seeds
(I toasted them) and dried cherries.
I may have put a touch to much Dijon in, but dressing was great too. I am going to add a little more yogurt and honey for next time I eat this salad. I have enough shredded Brussels and arugula for more. Thank you !!!!
I would have added a picture but do not see an up load in the comments. I do not use Instagram .
You’re welcome! Happy it was a hit for you, Lydia.
This is so good. My family loved it. I wanted to make it vegan so I used plain Almond yogurt instead of Greek. I added a bit more salt and lemon to compensate for the sweetness of the almonds. Thank you for this recipe!
Thanks for sharing what you did to make this vegan! I’m happy you liked it.
This dressing was amazing!! I didn’t have lemon juice, so I used some lemon pepper instead, but it was still heavenly. Me and my husband have been eating it on everything. Thank you for the recipe!
You’re welcome, Emily! Lemon pepper, hm. I love how you worked with what you had!
Just made this salad dressing and it was fantastic. Very flavorful. Excellent recipe. It is definitely a “keeper”.
Great! Thank you, Justin.
I just made this the other day and it was soooo great! I have never attempted to make some, but it was easy and again- super delicious!
Love to hear that, Milly! Thanks so much for sharing.
Finally got around to making this dressing and I can’t believe it took me so long. It is truly sunshine in a bowl. Now that fall and winter veggies are flourishing, I thought I’d mention that this is divine over hearty roasted squashes and root vegetables. Brings a lovely brightness.
Oh, that does sound divine! I will have to try that out, Julia. Thanks so much for sharing.
Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy
Making this recipe today…love your cookbook
Thanks, Doug!
I found this site when I googled Deb’s crushed olives with almonds, celery and parm because I wondered if there had been any reviews.
So I noticed the honey mustard dressing. I have two sons who adore it for dipping just about anything in it. They have never liked store bought. After reading the comments I thought let’s give it a shot. I had full-fat Greek yogurt. I only made a half quantity in case the snobs didn’t like it. I think it’s fabulous; left the proportions as written, used s scant 2 T honey because I thought the yogurt might be too tart. Perfect balance sweet/tart/savory.
I’m glad you made this one! Thanks for your review, Katie.
I had to make a dressing for my warm roasted vegetable platter, and as I didn’t have what I used last year for our “yearly girls luncheon” I found this on the web. WOW!! What a delight, it went down a treat with the girls – and me, but my husband has declared it better than his own home made mayonnaise!! and that’s saying something.
It’s so healthy, and delicious, many thanks for this recipe – I, for one am so glad you went to Sibu and found it.
One thing, I didn’t have Dijon mustard, so sub’d Mild English and wholegrain….yum. Also, I used greek yoghurt, and found it quite thin, can’t imagine using it as a dip….
Thank you for sharing and giving this recipe a review, Maz!
This is the best salad dressing recipe i’ve ever made. I finally have my family excited about eating salad. I would love to use this as a dip for vegetables as well. Any suggestions as to how to thicken it up for that purpose?
You could increase the yogurt if you feel like you need it thicker and adjust other ingredients to taste. I like it as it even with vegetables!
Ok, as you mentioned using yoghurt to replace all the “evil” usually goes pretty meh if not just bad. But THIS I love..interestingly it kinda tastes like tahini a bit to me without all the fat. So yeah I love this thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome!
Kate, so delicious! Had the recipe waiting to be made in my file box and finally made it today. My husband and I LOVED it!
Love that! It’s a great one, Helen. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much… I didn’t measure anything, I just eyeball’d it… but my whole family gobbled my salad up … so it was a hit. Will continue to us this dressing recipe!
Thanks for sharing, Aimee!
Hi Kate, I was a bit disorganised for Christmas and was looking for a recipe on Christmas morning using the ingredients I had on hand. I thought this would be perfect as it would go well with cold Christmas ham as well as salad (we are in New Zealand so we have everything cold for a summer Christmas). This recipe is delicious and so easy to make! I will definitely be making it again. I have also used your vege chilli recipes which are great. Thanks and keep up the good work! Cheers
I’m so happy you had all of this on hand to help you! Thanks for your review, Tara.
It is soooo good! Omg the best dressing ever! Thanks 5☆
Thanks so much, Sandra!
Thanks for this recipe! Do you think I could make it with goat milk yogurt?
You’re welcome! Sure, if that is your preference.
Do you know of a way to make this whole30 friendly? :-)
I’m not a Whole 30 expert, sorry!
Thanks for sharing your recipe, it’s so yummy #foodie #lovetocook #yelpelite✔️
You’re welcome! Thanks for taking the time to comment and review, Ashleigh.
Could not find link. Need calorie amount for one tablespoon. And do you know how many weight watcher points for one tablespoon?
I would also love to know the weight watcher points for this dressing. It is delicious.I love it!
If I don’t use honey, what do you think would be the best replacement? BeeFree Honey (made with apples), maple syrup, coconut or other sugar?
Maple syrup would work, if needed!
I made this Sunshine Dressing today I had to use Gludens spicy mustard and powdered garlic but it was really good!
Thanks for sharing, Sandra!
love, love, LOVE! it really is so good! thank you!!
You’re welcome, Lily!
Delicious as a dressing for yacón! I wasn’t sure what to do with them and still had some of the dressing left after making your carrot salad (also delicious), so I peeled and thinly sliced them and added just the dressing. Lovely.
I’m glad you enjoyed this dressing, Jan!
I have cooked a lot of the recipes on this site, and they are all outstanding, but this dressing was SO GOOD that I felt like I needed to leave a comment. Honestly, I’ve put this on everything. Salads, chickpeas, Buddha bowls, roasted sweet potatoes, etc. and I’m not even close to feeling like I should change it up and use something else. Thanks Kate!!
Thanks for sharing how much you loved this one! I appreciate the review, Stephanie.
I made it to put on Chicken Apple Salad and I loved it !!! I sent it to
my unhealthy eating son, and my best cooking friend. I always have a favorite dressing since Greek Yogurt is my staple food. I used Meyer Lemon juice.
Thank you, Caroline! I’m glad you liked it. Thanks for sharing it too!
My husband and I needed to loose weight which means lots of salads. We both like salad but they can be tasteless and blah without the correct dressing. I do not like low/no calories grocery dressings, too many ingredients I cannot pronounce, lots of salt and just taste blah. I found this recipe and we really like it. We now look forward to eating our salads; tastes wonderful with fruit. I am going to experiment with chicken and pork recipes in future.
I’m glad you like this recipe and it’s just what you need!
For those of you who don’t like yogurt, I can report that this tastes amazing with a high-quality mayonnaise (I didn’t use the full half cup to ensure it wouldn’t be too unhealthy). I may also try half yogurt, half mayo next time.
Thanks for sharing!
Delicious! Thanks for sharing. I used what I had on hand — plain kefir. Worked great!
You’re welcome, Julia!
I’m obsessed with this dressing! I usually make a big batch every week. Sometimes I change it up and use balsamic vinegar, which is delicious (especially with maple syrup). I also sometimes whisk in some grated fresh ginger to make a ginger version that’s kind of like your ginger dressing, which I also love :)
Lucy – Did you swap 4T of balsamic vinegar for ACV and use the same quantity of remaining ingredients as called for?
Great recipe! Absolutely added life to our salad. My whole family loved it! Thank you.
This sounds heavenly! Was just wondering if you have a suggestion instead of the lemon juice? Citric acid is a no no for my hubby and I know he would love this!
Brilliant salad dressing Kate! Loved it! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Tina!
This dressing is delicious! Made exactly as written. Thanks for the great recipe!
You’re welcome, Jodi!
This is DELICIOUS! I am going to make this often. I can see where it would be wonderful on everything! Right now I’m dipping grilled chicken, I put it in my daughter’s lunch for her salad dressing (she loves it too), the possibilities are endless. Can’t wait to use it for potato salad this summer! Instead of honey, I used about 5 drops of liquid stevia. I used 0% Fage Greek yogurt. Thank you so much for such a fantastic recipe.
I love the idea of this on a potato salad, Colleen! Let me know what you do when you try it. I appreciate the review.